Chapter 223

Several days later, by the Xishui River, the beastmen of the War Bear Tribe were clearing the battlefield).

A giant panda transformed into human form. The female beastman casually took the leather armor handed by a tribesperson beside her. As she walked towards the Black Mountain Tribe, she casually) draped the armor over her body.

The female beastman was tall and slender, lacking the ruggedness typical of bear clan beastmen. Her eyes were sharp, her thin lips pressed tightly together. As she strode forward, an aura of killing intent) surrounded her, as if even her jet-black hair) was ready for battle.

However, this cold, proud demeanor) only lasted a few short minutes.

Xiong Han, Chief of the War Bear Tribe, burst into loud laughter the moment she spoke.

She made a fist and thumped) Lang Ze's left shoulder: "I haven't had such satisfaction) in a long time! Thank you, Black Mountain Tribe! Let me vent my pent-up anger! Hahaha!"

When the Sanghuo Tribe fled backward, Hu Qiao and Ma Ling had left the main force, heading first) towards the Northern Wilderness. Their purpose was precisely to find the War Bear, Giant Deer, and Yun Valley tribes planning to migrate north.

Lang Ze's original plan was merely to prevent anyone from escaping, having the three tribes intercept them within the Northern Wilderness.

However, before Hu Qiao and Ma Ling could cross the Xishui River into the Northern Wilderness, they ran into head-on) the three tribes who had set out earlier.

Beastmen who had long been gritting their teeth with hatred) towards the Sanghuo Tribe didn't hesitate upon hearing it was just a group of Sanghuo escapees. They led their migrating tribespeople directly circled around to the far rear).

Only, to prevent the Sanghuo people from changing their escape direction.

The Giant Deer, Yun Valley, and War Bear tribes split into three forces, guarding different directions.

With this news, Lang Ze was even less in a hurry. He pursued leisurely along the way until they ran headlong into the position guarded by the War Bear Tribe.

The War Bears were naturally skilled combatants in beast form. This time, the entire tribe's beastmen were mobilized. Coupled with) the help from the Black Mountain Tribe, the mere six hundred-plus Sanghuo beastmen were without any all intercepted) within the Xishui River.

Faced with Xiong Han's enthusiasm, Lang Ze only nodded slightly.

Lang Ze got straight to the point: "The Sanghuo Tribe's leader, Zhu Qi, has already died at the foot of Black Mountain. You have dealt with the Sanghuo Tribe's elder, Yan Lu. Now is the time when the Sanghuo Tribe is at its weakest."

"Black Mountain Tribe is a friendly tribe), but that does not mean Black Mountain Tribe will tolerate someone attacking our territory)."

Lang Ze's expression was calm, asking in a tone as if discussing what to eat today: "We plan to seize this opportunity to消灭 (eliminate) the Sanghuo Tribe. Well, are you interested in joining?"

Lang Ze casually dropped this bombshell), then led the Black Mountain Tribe's contingent) away without looking back.

Xiong Xin, seeing Xiong Han staring motionless at the direction the Black Mountain Tribe had left, couldn't help but step forward to remind her: "Chief, we found some food on the Sanghuo people. Do you want to go take a look... Chief?"

Xiong Xin's words halted mid-sentence as he saw Xiong Han suddenly turn her head, her gaze holding an almost unnatural fervor).

"Xin, if you were given a chance now to make the Sanghuo Tribe completely disappear) from the Northern Wilderness, what would you do?"

Xiong Xin didn't know what had gotten into their chief this time, but this question required no thought. He nodded firmly): "I would seize this opportunity!"

"That's right)," Xiong Han laughed loudly a few times, then looked sharply towards the direction they had come from. "This is perhaps the only chance. We cannot miss it."

"What were you saying just now?"

"Oh, the Black Mountain Tribe took half the food from the Sanghuo Tribe, only half is left..."

Xiong Han waved her hand without much concern): "None of that is important. Gather all the spoils of war. We set out immediately to find Giant Deer and Yun Valley."

When Lang Ze brought everyone back to the tribe, they didn't receive a warm welcome), at least not from Yang Luo.

Yang Luo craned his neck), searching through the crowd: "Where is the food from those Sanghuo people? Why did you bring back so little?"

Clearly, after learning about the situation on the battlefield, Yang Luo's fear of the three great Eastern Barbarian tribes had mostly dissipated. Added to that), Lang Ze was leading this time; he never even considered) that Lang Ze would lose track of the enemy.

All he cared about was the food the tribe might obtain after killing those beastmen.

But the result was very disappointing to him. Especially after learning that Lang Ze had also left a large portion of the food for the War Bear Tribe, he was even more furious).

Lang Ze wasn't unconcerned about that food. He just felt that if they wanted the War Bear Tribe to join forces, they couldn't offer nothing. Giving them a little sweetener) first would help them make up their minds) to join.

And honestly, the Black Mountain Tribe's beastman warriors had already been very diligently) hauling food back to the tribe.

The War Bear Tribe had several times more participants than them. In principle), the larger share should belong to the War Bear Tribe. But Lang Ze said they should take half, and they truly took half, without any politeness towards the War Bear Tribe.

Qi Bai blinked at Lang Ze, expressing strong sympathy. After all, he had already angered Yang Luo once by giving meat to the Jufeng Tribe. This current anger was probably super doubled).

Looking at Yang Luo's nearly steaming top of his head), Lang Ze said: "I accept punishment."

Before Yang Luo could agree, Ma Ling and Lang Ji objected: "We went out together. We share responsibility!"

Hu Qiao very loyally waved in agreement. To punish their leader, they must be punished first.

Yang Luo glared at Hu Qiao. These days, even (accepting punishment) had people rushing to join in. And what did it have to do with you all? Were you trying to rebel)?

Before these kids could infuriate) Yang Luo completely, Hou Yan quickly tried to smooth things over: "Now is not the time for this. Let them go back and rest. How to deal with the Sanghuo Tribe needs careful discussion. And didn't we encounter the War Bear Tribe? We don't know their attitude yet. There are many things to do. Stop worrying about this bit of food."

Sure enough, mentioning serious matters made Yang Luo's anger subside) considerably. He glanced around at the various sneaking glances) and felt continuing this was pointless. He cleared his throat lightly): "Then let's return to the tribe to discuss."

Hou Yan smiled: "Right, discuss it back at the tribe."

Behind Yang Luo's back, Hu Qiao and the others (bumped shoulders snickering), clearly not taking the punishment seriously at all.

Little did they know Yang Luo suddenly turned back, catching them red-handed: "You, you, you, you few! Go clean the toilets for three days!"

The others had walked quite far away but could still hear the wails of Hu Qiao and the others.

In the decision-making group office by the enclosure wall, Yang Luo and Hou Yan waited distractedly.

Not long after, Lang Ze, after briefly washing up at home, entered the office with Qi Bai.

Lang Ze first described the situation along the journey to the three of them, then mentioned the invitation to the War Bear Tribe.

Yang Luo asked somewhat worriedly: "Will they agree?"

Lang Ze nodded: "The Sanghuo Tribe plundered so many tribes in the Northern Wilderness. Now, with winter not long past, their territory must still hold much food. And the Black Mountain Tribe has already destroyed more than half of the Sanghuo Tribe's combat strength. I don't believe anyone could resist such (temptation)."

Hou Yan agreed: "And Lang Ze said each of the three tribes should provide two hundred of their strongest beastman warriors. They are all large tribes. Even if these beastmen might die because of this, it's an absolutely acceptable number. If it were me, I would also agree to such a proposal."

Lang Ze's request was born of necessity. Relying solely on the Black Mountain Tribe's own strength, it wasn't that they couldn't handle the Sanghuo Tribe, but the danger would certainly be much greater.

And for an expedition, the Jufeng tribespeople couldn't be counted on. So if the three tribes could join, it was the best method.

Moreover, this attack on the Sanghuo Tribe would allow closer observation of these three tribes.

The cooperation matter was thus decided. Qi Bai stretched his muscles and bones  and said to Yang Luo: "Priest Grandpa, take out your little notebook. Prepare to open the warehouses." Troops move not, provisions first.

In any era, this is an eternal truth.

This time, Qi Bai prepared lightweight, filling food for the Black Mountain warriors. Besides the main staple of roasted meat jerky, there was another Black Mountain Tribe specialty: milk curd as hard as bricks.

Although everyone's acceptance of its taste varied, milk curd was absolutely the best food for long journeys. Milk curd of the same weight provided energy similar to beast meat jerky. Just a small piece could stave off hunger.

And compared to beast meat obtained through hunting, acquiring milk curd was much simpler.

The tribe had its own domesticated four-eared sheep. Except for the months when the ewes were pregnant, the tribe could produce much sheep milk daily.

Ever since Qi Bai taught everyone to make milk curd and butter), sheep milk had never been wasted again.

Qi Bai and Yang Luo opened the first and second rooms on the second level of the mountain caves. These were originally the caves of Ma Shu and Ma Ling brothers, now also serving as tribal warehouses, filled precisely with milk curd.

Although Hu Xue occasionally took out milk curd for the tribespeople to eat, most of the time, this milk curd was used as food for the patrolling and hunting beastmen.

So the consumption of milk curd fell far short of the daily production.

Just these two warehouses held nearly thirty thousand pieces of milk curd, each over half a kilo. This didn't even include the quantities in other warehouses.

From this, one could understand why the Black Mountain Tribe dared to easily accept over a thousand workers. Ample food reserves were their confidence).

Qi Bai comforted Yang Luo: "Priest Grandpa, more ewes in the sheep pen are pregnant this year than last. When they give birth, we'll have plenty of milk again."

Yang Luo fondly unwilling to let go) stroked the milk curd bricks stacked neatly like a wall: "Ah, it was so hard to save this much. Now we have to use up more than half in one go."

The Black Mountain Tribe was planning a blitzkrieg).

Before news of the Sanghuo Tribe's disaster could make its way back) to the Sanghuo Tribe, before the Sanghuo Tribe could prepare, Lang Ze would lead the most elite troops in a rapid surprise attack on the Sanghuo Tribe's headquarters.

Therefore, along the way, forget hunting; even lighting fires to cook meals was impossible. So the food they prepared had to be compact, space-saving, and ready to eat anytime.

What Qi Bai didn't mention was that some of this was also reserved for the three tribes: War Bear, Giant Deer, and Yun Valley.

If it were just food, Qi Bai believed those large tribes could provide it. But meeting all the above conditions might not be so easy.

To ensure everything went smoothly, Qi Bai had to consider all this.

Besides food, Qi Bai also took out all the hand crossbows in the tribe, issuing one to every beastman going out.

The beastmen's horn bow skills were generally not as good as the sub-beastmen who practiced daily. But these small hand crossbows) were much easier to master and had higher compatibility with the beastmen.

After all, the range of the horn bow was already close to the attack range of many beastmen's beast forms. Transforming into beast form at that time might cost them the initiative in battle. But the hand crossbow's longer range left) the beastmen sufficient response time.

The other people in the tribe were also busily preparing).

The blacksmith workshop operated twenty-four hours a day to produce more arrows for the beastmen. After the battles of the past few days, the Black Mountain tribespeople had completely understood the importance of weapons.

Forget about sharpening your spear only before battle); beastmen had no such concept. They firmly believed that even forging one more arrow could reduce their warriors' danger in close combat.

The carts under the shed also underwent the most detailed inspections and repairs.

These were the Black Mountain Tribe's powerful tools) for rapid advancement.

Not to mention others, just the Sanghuo Tribe's beastmen: each individual's strength wasn't weak. But after the long trek to Black Mountain, they all became exhausted soldiers).

Forget exerting 100% of their strength); they probably couldn't even muster 70-80% of their combat power.

But the Black Mountain Tribe was different.

Compared to ordinary beastmen who could only walk on their own two feet, Black Mountain Tribe's warriors could travel day and night without stopping.

Most importantly, the warriors taking turns pulling the carts meant they could take turns resting. No one's physical expenditure would be excessively large.

Even traveling to the distant Northern Wilderness held no fear.

In short, a battle tests never just the warriors' combat strength, but the entire tribe's (overall coordination).

While Qi Bai and Yang Luo were busy with logistical preparations for the warriors' expedition, Lang Ze not only met with the Jufeng Tribe's Wei to discuss arrangements for the days the Black Mountain warriors would be away but also began final (special training) for the selected beastman warriors.

On the third day after Lang Ze's group returned to the tribe, the Black Mountain Tribe's expedition force was (formally assembled and ready).